Settling Debts (TV series episode)
Settling Debts is the 247th episode of the CBS-TV series M*A*S*H, also the 7th episode of Season 11 of the series. Written by Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford, and directed by Michael Switzer, it originally aired on December 6, 1982. Synopsis Hawkeye receives a letter from Colonel Potter's wife saying that she has paid off the mortgage on their home early and asks Hawkeye and friends to throw a surprise party for Potter to celebrate. Full episode summary Col. Potter notices that Hawkeye gets a letter from... Mrs. Potter? He demands to know what it says, but Hawkeye refuses to say anything. This drives Col. Potter crazy, and he starts to think it involves his wife Mildred buying a houseboat, something he is dead-set against. But it's not a houseboat; Mildred wrote to Hawkeye to tell him that she has "scrimped and saved" and managed to pay the mortgage on their house off 6 months early. She's telling Hawkeye and the rest this so they can throw Potter a mortgage-burning party at the 4077th. Everyone gets involved in the surprise party, and they try to keep Col. Potter busy and in the dark long enough to get it ready in his tent: cake, fake picket fence, and all. Being in the dark gets Potter furious, and his imagination runs away with him; he's convinced he's going to spend his retirement years on a "damned houseboat." He tries to place a call to Mildred, so Klinger has to keep stalling to keep the call from going through. Margaret comes up with a complicated plan for a new nurse shift rotation, which she shoves in Potter's face trying to keep him busy. To Margaret's surprise, though, Potter likes the plan, and heads back to his tent. Klinger bursts in to tell Potter that he got through to the operator in Hannibal, Missouri, and the Colonel can't wait to get his wife on the phone and give her what for. However, the operator is really Margaret, who is on the extension and manages to stall Potter a while longer. When that plan eventually fails, Father Mulcahy steps in and gets Potter to go a few rounds with his punching bag to relieve some stress. Potter has finally had enough, and goes to his tent, where everyone is waiting for him. They explain what all the secrecy was about, and Potter is moved to tears over his friends' efforts, and the idea that he and Mildred now own their home, lock, stock, and barrel. Hawkeye and the rest give him a gift: an engraved lighter, which he uses to burn the mortgage. As the party winds down, everyone wishes Potter a good night and congratulates him as they leave one at a time. Potter gets ready to settle in for the night, but has one more problem to deal with: Charles, who had started drinking long before everyone else, has passed out in his bed. Subplot A group of field troops led by 2nd Lieutenant Pavelich (Jeff East) arrive in camp with orders to patrol the Kwantu Pass to find infiltrators; Pavelich, who has only been an officer for two months, tells Potter and B.J. that he turned down a desk job in Paris for more tougher work, and his First Sergeant Lally confirms to B.J. that Pavelich takes good care of them, and so they take good care of him. That night, Pavelich's men bring him back to camp wounded by a sniper, and Pavelich confides in B.J. that he can't feel his legs. Later, more of his men shoot the sniper, a North Korean soldier, and bring him to camp as well. When Lally overhears Hawkeye and B.J. discussing Pavelich's condition (pressure on his spinal cord from the gunshot, believed to be 'cord shock'), he demands an explanation. After the doctors reveal the truth, Lally tells the others that he will kill the Korean if Pavelich is permanently paralyzed. After surgery, the doctors are still uncertain as to whether the lieutenant will walk again, and Lally is ready to shoot and kill the North Korean on the spot, but Pavelich comes out of the anesthetic long enough to order Lally to stand down. Fun Facts * Jeff East was known to moviegoers for playing the teen-aged Clark Kent in 1978's Superman: The Movie, though the producers overdubbed his dialogue with the voice of Christopher Reeve, who played the adult Kent and Superman. * In a classic Line when Potter demands to know what his wife called about, B.J. retorts they cant say since Mrs Potter "outranked them by marriage!" * When discussing how to celebrate Potter's mortgage burning party, Father Mulcahy suggests the theme of "Home Sweet Home", complete with a white picket fence. Winchester quips that there should be a pink flamingo for the lawn. The infamous pink flamingo lawn ornament wasn't designed until 1957, and didn't gain widespread popularity until the 1960s, long after the Korean War ended. Recurring/Guest Cast *Jeff East as Lieutenant Pavelich *Guy Boyd as 1Sgt. Lally *Michael Bond as Captain Hobart *Michael Lamont as Corporal *Jack McCulloch as Soldier *Jennifer Davis Westmore as Nurse Category:Season 11 episodes